playful movement

Movement Combo 1 – Baby Power

I was feeling full of energy today after work, so I decided to throw together something Dan John calls a “park bench” workout – i.e. something done just for fun, and just because I can! To me, these combos/workouts are a joyful expression of human movement and vitality. I’ll try to post these whenever my friends and I come up with new ones. Feel free to try them yourselves or modify to your own liking.

*Disclaimer: I highly recommend you feel comfortable with these movements on their own before adding the metabolic demand of performing them in sequence.

Baby Power

1) MB Shot Put Throw x5ea. 12# ball. Load the back foot and “squash the bug”, driving through the back toe and rotating the back hip. Let the arm extend as you smash the ball into a wall. It feels awesome.

2) Bear Crawl x20yds. Load it if you want. I used a 30# weight vest and pretended it was a kid riding on my back. It was fun.

3) Lateral Figure 4 Get Up x3ea. This movement is highlighted on MovNat’s main site by Erwan. I normally use it as a warm-up move, but by hugging a 20k sandbag to your chest and pretending it’s a (admittedly large) baby, you can make it a manipulative as well.

4) Split Stance Broad Jump x3ea. Start in a deep split stance with the arms in front. In one smooth motion, bring the arms behind you and throw them forward, jumping out as far as you can and landing with both feet at the same time. Try to sound like a Ninja. Did you hear that? Nope.

5) Bar Muscle Up x2. The bars at my gym add a little extra difficulty in that they are a double bar so you have to deal with that as you swing up. Makes it challenging and fun. You have to put your whole body into the movement and it’s very satisfying to get on top. Substitute: Horizontal Beam Mount.

I ran through this series 3 times in a little over 10 minutes. Take breaks as needed and enjoy the feeling of flow and power throughout this series.

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Hi guys, this is Matt (aka "freefitguy"). I'm a MovNat Certified Trainer and strength coach with a mission - to help people rediscover their natural-born ability to move and live with vibrant health. Free yourself to be fit.